This invention relates to die-cutting machines and more particularly to machines for forming and cutting shaped articles from multi-layered strips of feed material.
Die-cutting machines are employed for cutting shaped paper items, such as coffee filters, from multiple layered strips of feed material. In order to provide the multi-layered feed stock, as a roll stand is generally provided for laminating the feed stock from a plurality of individual rolls and for feeding the same to a die-cutter. The die-cutters are generally reciprocating devices which require that the multi-layered stock be fed under the dies while they are retracting, but which must be stopped for a finite period of time while the dies advance to perform their cutting function. This requires the expenditure of considerable energy in overcoming the inertia incident to the starting and stopping of the strip conveyor during each cutting operation.
The dies of such strip cutting material are generally arranged in a suitable pattern for conservation of feed stock material. The width of the feed stock is not only determined by the cutting head pattern, but allowances must also be made for lateral wandering of the web due to lamination inaccuracies. Such feed stock inaccuracies due to web wandering can result in substantial cost because the feed stock must be wider than would otherwise be necessary. One source of such inaccuracies in prior art apparatus was the open gap that existed between the roll stand and the die-cutter conveyor assembly.